"Wisconsin en Plein Air" - Friday Reception

Holy Wisdom Outing

The sun came out right on cue for our outing at Holy Wisdom Monastery.  And the wisdom I received is that if you're painting a green summer scene, invent some color and throw it in.  Which is what I did with this painting after returning home.  Probably could have added even more.

Evening Painting at Holy Wisdom Monastery August 26 - 3:30pm

We will meet around 3:30 pm in the parking area near this pond on the west side of the property.  The prairies will be blooming with many native species.  Please stay on the trails or on places where the lawn is mowed as the monastery has worked very hard to restore and maintain the beautiful prairies and we don't want to damage any native plants that grow there.  The sisters are very generous to open their nature trails to visitors who want to walk and enjoy the peace of the this beautiful place.  Also we should be mindful that some hikers may be spending retreat time at the monastery and we don't want to disturb their peace and quiet.  Not that we are a rowdy bunch by any means!  I have seen deer and mink and many bird species on and around the pond and once watched a mink "collect" at least a dozen turtles in about 5 min.  Poor turtles!  

Painting from Indian Lake outing on Aug. 11, 2015 (Doug Haynes)

Indian Lake Outing

We had some good weather and good participation at our outing yesterday at Indian lake.  I suppose this view of the lake from the parking lot has been painted quite often but that's what I did again, of course, the light and clouds are always unique.  I did two paintings, the first in the evening with the sun behind the clouds and the second was painted quickly after the sun was below the horizon.

I also want to mention that Jan Norsetter won an "honorable mention" prize at the Mineral Point Paint Out last weekend.  This event attracted some exceptional painters from seven states and winning any prize there is a considerable accomplishment.  So congrats to Jan.

Memory & Painting

Many of you may be familiar with James Gurney's blog where many interesting posts about plein air painting can be found.  Mr. Gurney is the author of the famous Dinotopia books and regularly paints outdoors using watercolor, gouache and oil.  He has at least a couple DVD downloads on plein air painting with watercolor and gouache and wrote an excellent book "Color and Light - A Guide for the Realist Painter".  One recent blog post was a commentary on "Visual Memory" from Harold Speed's 1917 classic  The Practice and Science of Drawing.  I found the remarks about memory and plein air painting especially interesting and worth pondering.  You can read the post at the link below.

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2015/08/gj-book-club-chapter-18-visual-memory.html

August 11th - Evening Painting at Indian Lake County Park

July Evening at Indian Lake

We will meet @ 4:30 pm for an evening painting session on August 11th at Indian Lake County Park (see Events Calendar).  I painted the pastel above one evening last month.  The prairie flowers are blooming and there are Great Blue Herons and Sandhill Cranes to be seen (and heard) along the lake shore.  In July I also painted the 2 pastels below near the picnic shelter that is on the left as you enter the park just before the main parking lot.

Cloudy afternoon view from the picnic shelter

Evening near the picnic shelter

Wisconsin Trails / Pope Farm

Last Wednesday a reporter from the Wisconsin Trails web site http://www.wisconsintrails.com/outdoors/sunflowers-dazzle-at-pope-farm-conservancy-b99547086z1-320291721.html was doing a story on Pope Farm and stopped to speak with some of our group and included a couple nice photos in their article. (See Below)

Doug Hayes

Tracy Wiklund and Mary McCormick

It was a very windy sunny day but at least 9 painters showed up and and 4 of us had a nice lunch at a nearby restaurant (Oliva.)  Very few sunflowers that day but they are probably gorgeous right now.  The prairie flowers were also beautiful.

Painted Forest Event

July 29th - Pope Farm Conservancy

Last year's Sunflowers at Pope Farm

We will meet for plein air painting in the morning.  (See Events Calendar for details)

 The sunflowers are planted up on the hillside again this year and hopefully will be close to peak blooming time.  

Vilas Park Follow-Up

It's been a while since we painted at Vilas but I thought I'd post how my painting that I started there ended up after additional work.  I almost tossed my (pretty rough) initial painting but am now glad I stuck with it.  And this is why I love oil paint, you can paint over and over again.

Tom Gilbert

Please Remain Seated

Plein air gear adapted for my mobility issues

Pastel studies at Cherokee Marsh

Plein air painting is challenging when you can't walk very far and have to sit to paint but this set up worked pretty well last week after our wonderful luncheon.  I used the little transport wheel chair to get the gear from my car to the site then set up the Shade Buddy Umbrella, 2 tripods with Heilman Medium Pastel Box on one and a Guerrilla Painter #17 Flex easel on the other.  It bothers my back to lean forward when I'm sitting and the Flex easel lets me get the painting surface up close.  The problem with sitting is not being able to frequently back up and see the painting from a distance but the next best thing is looking at it in a small mirror.  Kyle Martin suggested that at a workshop and he checks for errors in his composition this way.   I use an old makeup compact mirror and some painters use their cell phones.  The Flex easel is very well made and works well for pastel or watercolor.  It's attached to a ball head on the tripod so I can angle it as desired.

Painters in Action at Cherokee Park

Gretchen Twietmeyer

Jan Feyzi

Jan Norsetter

Ching Kung

Mary McCorminck and  Louise Kubista

Bystanders

Reisa Peters

Tom Gilbert

Patricia Duren and Terri Beckengle

Carol Watkins

July 7th Painting and Pot Luck

Ingrid Slamer, Jan Norsetter and Gretchen Twietmeyer in the art filled living room.

The hostess in her kitchen

Louise Kubista, Mary McCormick and Bob Turner on Marla's beautiful porch

Some of the morning's art work

More paintings from Cherokee Park

Carol Watkins with Jan Norsetter's  plein air paintings from the park; not only did Jan finish 2 paintings that morning but also framed them!  Talk about productive!  The group appreciated Jan's commentary on her approach to painting those scenes which was very instructive.

Marla's paintings on the porch

Mary painting from the porch and the gorgeous view of the marsh

Hungry painters

Marla Brenner very generously hosted a pot luck for the group and provided some great cheeses to sample; along with the painters contributions it was quite a spread for the hungry painters.  Thank you, Marla!!  A couple painters worked with the view from Marla's porch which was stunning.  It has to be one of the best views to be had anywhere in the state.  We also enjoyed the works by Marla and other painters that she has collected; there was much to be inspired by.  It was a great opportunity to meet more painters and learn more about art and making it from such an accomplished group.  What an ideal way to celebrate plein air painting in summer! 

Cherokee Outing

We had a very enjoyable outing this morning at Cherokee and I believe it was the best attended outing we've ever had.  Maybe because of the pot luck lunch afterwards.  Here is a photo of Gretchen and Jan Feyzi checking out painting sites.  The morning was a bit hazy with sun coming in and out with beautiful clouds.  And the large cottonwood trees there have such fine noble shapes.  A great day to paint.

Plein Air Painting: Cherokee Park July 7th, 8am

Please note Cherokee Park is not the same as Cherokee Marsh (see map below).  We will paint from 8am to 11:30 then have lunch at Marla's home nearby (see calendar for more info).

Jan Norsetter's painting from last year's outing at this location.

Another Pheasant Branch Painting

This is almost the same view as what Jan F. painted.  I took a clue from your painting, Jan, and added some violet to contrast the green, and then took some liberties with inventing a sky and associated light.

Tom Gilbert

Pheasant Branch

I decided to work on this further at home.  Still not sure it's working, but I'm a bit happier with it than I was the other night.   Simplified the foreground tree as per Tom's suggestion (probably could do more), and got rid of an extraneous bush that was awkwardly placed.  I'm still not sure if the sky is working - I definitely struggled with the fact that the view faced west.  I'm not sure how to deal with the bright glare of the low sun - next time I'll try to pick a view opposite the sun!

Fall 2015 Art Junket

Roberta Condon asked me to share this with DCPAPA...

Pheasant Branch Sky painting

I enjoyed painting last night.  The sky was dramatic and looked sort of like this.

I also enjoyed our gathering after the event.  I learned a lot from everyone, but then I forgot it.  Perhaps we should make a page where people could post links as I already forgot the name of the college in New York, as well as the podcast and probably a bunch of other things.   I'll start with a link to the Epic Rap Battle I mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGN5xaQkFk0